7 hours Ago By By Eric Mark [email protected]
The Luzerne County Government Study Commission will focus on the county's home rule form of governance and might propose changes, including the possible adoption of a new county charter. The seven-member citizen commission voted unanimously Thursday to keep a home rule form of government as it continues its study of the county's governance structure. Home rule, which took effect in 2012, has worked well overall and provided increased transparency to county government, commission Vice Chairman Vito Malacari said.
Going forward, the commission will "fix some of the inefficiencies" in the existing home rule charter, Malacari said. The commission convened in May, after voters approved its formation and elected commission members in the April primary. It is studying the county's form of government and might suggest changes, which would require voter approval in a subsequent election.
On Thursday, the commission rejected the option of pursuing a potential return to the county's former governance structure, which centered power in the hands of three elected commissioners. While it is possible the commission could wind up suggesting no changes to the existing form of government, that appears unlikely. After they voted to formalize their focus on home rule, commission members discussed areas of the charter which have been questioned and criticized.
One of the major areas of review concerns potential changes to the structure of the 11-member county council, which serves as the legislative branch of county government. That will be the focus of the commission's next meeting on Oct. 24, Chairman Tim McGinley said.
The commission will consider whether the size of council should be reduced — an idea supported by most commission members during earlier discussions, though opinions differ on whether the ideal number of seats would be five, seven or nine. Also up for discussion will be the limit of three consecutive terms for council members, as stipulated in the current charter. Some have lobbied for removing term limits, so as to retain experienced leaders with institutional knowledge.
Another area of discussion concerns whether some or all council members should be elected by district. Since home rule took effect, all 11 council members have been elected at large, by voters throughout the county. Also, the commission will consider whether council should have its own solicitor, instead of relying on the county office of law — which represents all of county government — for legal advice.
McGinley said he expects the commission to "spend a lot of time" discussing the structure of county council and "come to consensus on those issues." Commission members are Malacari, McGinley, Ted Ritsick, Cindy Malkemes, Matt Mitchell, Stephen J. Urban and Mark Shaffer.
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